The Fortune City Outbreak
by STARCRUSHER99
Summary: Things were looking up for Jaune after the Terror is Reality Tournament. He'd finally proven that he wasn't the weakling he used to be. But when an outbreak occurs after the tournament, and he's framed, he and Yang uncover a conspiracy much larger than both of them in their quest for truth. The fate of all four Kingdoms rests on their shoulders, whether they know it or not.
1. The Outbreak Begins

**A/N: So before I start this story, let me clear up a few things.**

 **1.) Zombies are like Grimm in this universe. They spawn out of the tar pit things, are surprisingly tough to kill, and are able to convert a human or Faunus with a single bite. To counter this, the drug Zombrex was created.**

 **2.) In a burst of ingenuity, Atlas managed to create an "aura pill", a pill that speeds up the production of aura in the body for 4 hours.**

 **3.) Roman Torchwick and the Malachites, instead of being villains, are the ones that host the Terror is Reality Tournament. It is the equivalent of the Vytal Tournament.**

 **4.) Anything in bold is thinking.**

 **So that's all for now, reviews are much appreciated, and hope you like the story!  
**

* * *

"-and Jaune pulls ahead at the very last second, taking the lead right out from under them and securing the match!"

Jaune could hear everything that RT said, but it didn't matter to him: he, Jaune Arc, the one who had faked his transcripts to get into Beacon, the one who didn't win his first spar until 4 months into the year, the one that absolutely no one except for his own team took seriously, had somehow managed to win the Terror is Reality Tournament? He knew that he wasn't the only one thinking "how?"

But in the end, it didn't matter how. The fact was, he was being called to the center of the arena to receive his award: a big plaque and a 25,000 lien check for a charity of his choice. RT did the thing Jaune never thought he would experience: RT grabbed his hand and thrust it into the air saying that he won the tournament! He had no idea that it would be this thrilling, but to say that his adrenaline was pumping would be an understatement.

With one arm still in the air, his other hand was suddenly filled with an envelope, probably containing the plaque, by the Malachite twins. Militia merely scoffed and looked away, but Melanie shot a wink at him first, making him blush, before he left the stage and started the walk back to the locker room.

He started wondering what his friends would say to this: Pyrrha, Nora, and Ruby would obviously be excited beyond belief, Ren would probably just give an approving stare, Weiss and Blake probably wouldn't even care, and Yang would just throw out a pun or two from the back of the room. He was so distracted by these thoughts that he didn't even notice that at some point he had made his way back to the locker room.

After he realized where he was, he made sure that he had all his things from his locker, but before he could leave the room he heard the TV, which was on the news, mention the White Fang and decided to listen:

"-while an official documentation or report of the raid has not been released, what we can gather is that a small group of huntsman were informed of a White Fang cell within the city and decided to clear it out. It is currently unknown whether or not there were any casualties on either side. Qrow Branwren, the leader of the group of huntsman that performed the raid, had this to say: "We're really starting to crack down on the White Fang within the kingdoms, and the surrounding cities as well. We're getting a high amount of intel on their movements and plans everyday. We'll get the bastards yet." That's the report. Now, here's Lisa Lavender reporting on the Terror is Reality Tournament."

That's when Jaune stopped listening. He really didn't want to see himself on the news or hear the story. He'd already lived it after all; no need to go through it again. **So this is how Pyrrha feels after every tournament.**

He left the locker room and started walking towards the elevator when he heard something from the door to his left. It was someone with a really loud voice saying "what do I have to do, Torchwick?"

Jaune didn't really care until he heard RT's voice say "Taurus, you need to relax. Why can't you be your usual bull-headed self?" He paused in thought at the name. **Taurus, Taurus, where have I heard that name before?**

What he heard next is what tipped him off to who was talking: "You say that as if we're not pulling off a major terrorist attack." **Adam Taurus is here?!**

This made him realize he needed to investigate, so he texted Pyrrha to let her know that he'd be a little late and walked through the door. He had a momentary scare when the door slammed loudly behind him before he could stop it, but it seemed that RT and Adam didn't hear it.

With his scroll still in hand, he started recording everything that was happening between the two:

"That's besides the point and you know it. You've just gotta calm down and realize what this means for Faunus equality."

"Why do you care about equality? You yourself are racist."

"If it gets me money, I care about it. Speaking of which, this is yours. A little token for your troubles."

At this point, RT passed him a suitcase that was literally overflowing with money. Jaune zoomed in on the case. **What's RT paying Adam to do?**

"I appreciate the money, but let's just get what we came here for, shall we?"

"Of course. It's over here. You have someone to meet."

Jaune had to switch positions to get them on video again, but when he did, RT was very clearly handing Adam another suitcase. **That looks like a bomb. Is it a bomb?! It's a bomb!**

After making sure the bomb was on video, Jaune took his leave and ran out of the room. RT and Adam both heard him running and were confused, but in the end didn't think anything of it.

Jaune meanwhile, had (literally) run into Militia, who only stared at him in anger. "Looks like you've overstayed your welcome, Jauney", she said to a terrified Jaune.

Jaune couldn't think of anything to say to that, so he just ran past her to the elevator at the end of the hall. It couldn't get there faster, but when it did, who else would be in it but Melanie, who immediately started taunting him: "The ladies were a little disappointed in your, 'performance', Jaune. You must get that a lot, huh?". Then she just walked away, putting extra sway into her hips.

Jaune didn't even notice, as he was too busy trying to get his scroll out. He finally did as the elevator doors closed, and called Pyrrha. "Jaune, what's taking so long? We're waiting for you in the green room", she said before Jaune cut her off.

"Pyrrha, we need to get out of here."

"What? Why?"

"I'll explain later, just run! Get as many people as you can and -" he didn't get to finish before the explosion knocked him unconscious.

When he woke up, he was barely able to get his bearings before he heard screaming and remembered where he was: in an elevator post-terrorist attack. He was finally able to get enough strength to stand up and start prying open the elevator doors when he saw the chaos in front of him.

People were running and screaming in every direction, including one person who stopped in front of him saying "she got me! She got me!". Eventually that person started growling and turned around to reveal to Jaune that he was zombified. **Shit! A zombie?!**

When the zombie started walking towards him, he started to open the doors faster, with the zombie getting closer every second.

When he finally got out of the elevator, he tripped and fell on the ground, and the zombie kept getting closer...

Until someone else ran in front of him by mistake and ended up getting eaten instead. Jaune wasn't able to do anything other than watch it all go down, horrified and on the verge of vomiting. **He didn't even scream... Pyrrha!**

His thought process did a complete 180 when he realized that his friends might be in danger, so he started running towards the green room with people dying all around him the whole way.

He finally got to the green room where Pyrrha said they were and tried to open the door, but it was locked. He tried to shout to them, but his cries kept getting overshadowed by screams and explosions. **WHY ARE THINGS EXPLODING?!**

After about six tries, his patience was gone, so he finally just started hitting the door with his shield. It finally broke down and he ran in.

He wasn't sure what to expect, but Gambol Shroud tying him down and Storm Flower about to slit his throat definitely wasn't it.

"GUYS IT'S ME!"

Luckily, before Ren could finish the job, he was recognized and the weapon was lifted from his throat with the rope being untied from his body. And right when he stood up again was when Pyrrha and Nora tackled him down again to hug him.

"We thought you were dead!"

"Fearless leader! You're okay!"

"Don't do that again!" It was a chorus of "Thank God's" and "We thought you were dead's" before Jaune was able to calm them down again when he said that he was perfectly fine.

Finally, Nora got off of him, which allowed Pyrrha to get off as well before they remembered where they were. Jaune, ever the leader, asked "What's everyone's situation?"

Ren was the one to fill him in. "After the explosion, we had a large fight against the zombies with Team CRDL. Before you ask, no they didn't make it, but I have to say they put up a good fight." He bowed his head in respect to CRDL, something nobody thought they'd ever do.

"Ruby, Weiss and Blake exerted too much aura in the brawl, and they ended up falling unconscious, which is why we're barricaded in here. Other than those three, the only injury is mine from when Cardin accidentally hit me with his mace during the fight, but my aura is doing a good job healing it. I'll have a limp for a while though. Pyrrha and Yang are okay, and we don't know your situation."

Jaune listened intently, taking every piece of information to memory. He started to form a coherent plan, and told the others.

"Okay guys, listen. There should be an emergency shelter made for this exact reason not too far from here. We just have to make it. Pyrrha and Yang, you two will take point. You have two jobs: clear a path for the rest of us, and try to get anyone's attention that you can so we can get them to the shelter as well. Ren, you're limping, so you'll take Ruby, Nora will take Blake, and I'll take Weiss. Sound good to everyone?"

No one objected, so Jaune picked Weiss up bridal style, with Ren and Nora doing the same to Ruby and Blake, and they got ready to fight through the crowd of zombies. After they were all ready, Yang kicked down the door and the race was on. Pyrrha and Yang slaughtered the zombies with extreme prejudice, while Jaune, Ren, and Nora carried the unconscious behind them.

"This isn't so bad! I think we got this!"

"Yang, why would you say that? Now we're doomed!"

"Oh come on, Vomit Boy! You believe that... Superstition..."

"What'd I say?"

They had just entered the arena, and what they saw stunned them into silence. Zombies, packed together like children in the lunch line, so close together they could barely move, filling the entire arena lobby. And they had to get through that.

Nora was the one to snap everyone out of their trance. "Well, are we just gonna stand here or are we gonna break some legs?!"

This got Yang riled up enough to activate her semblance, and they started moving again. Things were going surprisingly well, but something happened that they didn't account for: while they were hugging the wall, Jaune noticed someone on the other side of the arena, where they had just come from. They were unconscious, but clearly breathing. **I'd recognize those bunny ears anywhere...**

"Yang! Pyrrha! Velvet's unconscious and being surrounded! We can't just let her die!" They both looked at him and saw where he was pointing, and before they knew it they were sprinting towards Velvet's body. Clearing out the zombies wasn't the issue, who would carry her was.

"Okay, Weiss isn't that heavy. I think I can carry Velvet too" Jaune said.

Yang teased him, "Oh, Vomit Boy. Ever the lady killer" but no one objected, so Pyrrha picked her up and placed her on top of Weiss's body in Jaune's arms. "Now where were we? Oh yeah, running for our lives!"

This time, they didn't even bother trying to go around the crowd and just charged straight through. With Pyrrha and Yang forming a blitzkrieg, they were able to just carve a hole in the crowd and run out of the arena. But what they saw outside stunned all of them, even Nora, into silence again.

The zombies had spread quicker than they'd thought, and were currently swarming the outside as well. People were being grabbed and eaten left and right too quickly for anyone to do anything, so the group just watched in horror and disgust at the death and destruction around them. Finally, after watching that trumpet player from the tournament ( **Flynt, I think his name was?** ) get surrounded as well, they just started running.

They all sprinted until Ren noticed the sign for the Emergency Shelter and they started running towards it. As they got closer, the door started closing, but they managed to all make it in before it shut. They were able to relax after lying the unconscious down, until they realized that they were the only ones there.

"Were... Were we the only ones that made it out alive?" Pyrrha asked, even though the others were all asking it in their minds. No one got a chance to say anything to that, though, as the door into the safe house opened to reveal none other than...

"Uncle Qrow?! Why are you here?"

Qrow Branwren stood in front of the group in all of his alcoholic glory and just stared at all of them, not even taking the time to answer Yang's question. He just looked at the unconscious ones, taking extra time with Ruby, and asked "What happened to them?"

Ren, once again, filled him in: "Aura exhaustion, at least for those three. We're not sure what happened to the Faunus. If we can get them aura pills they should be fine."

Qrow just sighed at that, and said "Well that's unfortunate. Aura pills are pretty much the only medication we don't have here, and we won't be able to get them in the next three days."

Jaune was apparently the only one that caught on to what he said, as he asked "wait, why three days?"

"You're not familiar with protocol for an outbreak of this caliber, are you?" They all shook their heads. "Well, this outbreak coincides with an attack on the CCT back in Vale. With no communication in or out of the city, the people outside need to form a cohesive plan to get us out, and that, combined with setting up a perimeter around the city to stop the zombies from leaving, will take at least three days."

"Well, why don't they just send a bullhead to a roof or something?" Nora asked, trying to piece together Qrow's logic.

"Well, they already did. They sent in two. The one with the students made it out okay. The civilian one, not so much. It got shot down as it was leaving and they won't want to risk that happening again. We're on our own for the next three days. Now enough with the talking. Get in here so I can shut the door."

With that, they grabbed the unconscious and entered the safe house. "There's a couple couches and things like that in the security room. You can take these sleepyheads there."

"Thanks Qrow. We'll be quiet", Yang said as they entered the security room. Qrow closed the door to the safe house behind them and went back to his office before he heard a scream. "Guess the rabbit woke up."

* * *

Inside the security room, Velvet had woken up, and was greeted with the pain that knocked her out to begin with. She cried out in pain and shot up, which is why Nora held her down to stop her from exerting herself too much.

"Velvet, I'm sure you're in pain, but you need to stay down. Can't have our medic down for the count, can we?" Still in extreme upper body pain but understanding what Nora was saying, she lied back down before she was surrounded by Team JNPR and Yang. "Now, what happened before you were knocked out?"

Velvet, struggling to remember herself, had to take a minute to recollect her thoughts before telling her story. "My team and I were just hanging out in the lobby when we heard the explosion. We had a really intense fight, but eventually Coco ordered a retreat. Yatsu, Fox and her were able to get away, but before I could something next to me exploded. It knocked me out cold. My guess is my team cut their losses and left me behind, and based on what how packed the arena was, it was the right choice."

Jaune could only nod at that: he knew that her team were probably horrified at their decision to leave her behind. It didn't help that they wouldn't be told that she was still alive.

Pyrrha was the one to break the silence. "Velvet, if we manage to find aura pills, will you want one?"

Velvet started feverishly shaking her head. "No, no. To be honest I... I can't feel my legs, and I'm pretty sure I should be able to if Yang is leaning on them." Yang immediately straightened up for no particular reason. "I think my injury is too severe to try to rush it. I can feel what's left of my aura repairing the damage, so hopefully this isn't permanent, but I don't want to risk anything."

There was another awkward silence, and this time Jaune was the one to break it. "Okay, we keep talking about aura pills but talking doesn't do anything. We need to go into the city and get some."

Yang was the only one who doubted his reasoning. "You're kidding, right? You want to go back out there?!"

"Yang, if we want the pills we have to get them ourselves, and we don't just want them, we need them if we want Ruby, Weiss, and Blake to recover. So we need a reliable way to enter the city that doesn't open the main door. Ren, think you can figure that out?"

Ren just nodded and left the room, with Nora following him in an unspoken rule of "Where Ren goes, I go". Yang looked angry, but didn't question him further.

They just sat there in silence for about 5 minutes until Ren and Nora came back and told them they found a way out. They led Jaune, Pyrrha, and Yang over to the nearby air ducts and ripped open a small square. "This leads directly into the Royal Flush mall. I doubt the zombies are smart enough to figure that out if we keep the duct on the other end closed."

Jaune was impressed. He didn't expect them to find such a convenient option so quickly, but he wasn't going to object. "Thanks guys. So, does anyone happen to have a map?"

Yang slapped one onto his chest. "Found it in the security room."

"Thanks Yang, now to find a pharmacy..."

Pyrrha, of course, found it pretty much instantly: "Looks like there's one here, right on the border of the Royal Flush mall and the Slot Ranch casino. That'll be our closest and best bet for finding aura pills."

"Then that's where we're heading. You three stay here and monitor the others. If they wake up, don't let them leave their bed. We can't have them using any energy when they don't have their auras. If Velvet's pain goes away, help her over to the monitors to watch for any signs of life." Ren, Nora, and Yang nodded before walking back to the security room. "Now, where were we?"

"I believe heading straight towards what most people would call certain death."

"You say that as if it doesn't happen every Tuesday."

With their spirits lifted by that little bit of talking, they both crawled into the vents.

* * *

 **I was a bit too hopeful** was all Jaune could think when he opened the door to the main plaza of the mall. They had exited the vents in the maintenance area of the mall, and had exited said maintenance area to find zombies wandering the mall. **So much for "maybe the outbreak isn't everywhere".**

Pyrrha's voice snapped him out of his trance. "Well, shall we continue on? We do have a mission to complete." They started running towards the pharmacy while they kept talking.

"Yeah, I just was hoping that maybe the outbreak hadn't reached this far. Just wishful thinking."

"Just because the zombies have spread everywhere does not mean that no one survived."

"I completely agree. That's why I'm putting Velvet at the cameras to watch for life. Speaking of which, she'll probably need a wheelchair. You think they have one in the Safe House?"

"They should, so we shouldn't worry about that. The pharmacy should be right around this corner..."

She was cut off by her scroll going off, with the ringtone signaling comm mode. "I thought Qrow said the CCT was down."

"He certainly did, but maybe comms still work?" She answered the call and was greeted by Ren's voice.

"We got a reminder from Qrow. Comm mode only works between directly connected scrolls, so it still works with the CCT down. We should be able to communicate with each other just fine."

"Thanks Ren. We'll keep that in mind." With that, Pyrrha hung up. "I can't believe that I forgot about that..."

She was cut off by a scream from inside the pharmacy, so Jaune and Pyrrha both pulled out their swords and shields and walked in. They looked around and watched as the place was being looted by three people in hoodies with bandanas covering their mouths.

They both looked at each other and silently agreed not to get involved. At least, until one of them reached over the counter and grabbed the pharmacist.

"I'm gonna ask one more time! Where's the safe?!"

"We don't have a safe! All of the money's in the register!"

"Alright! You asked for it!" The looter wound up his swing with a crowbar.

"Hey!"

Jaune finally made his presence known. He walked straight towards the looter with his hands above his head in the surrender position. Pyrrha, meanwhile, was sneaking up behind the three looters.

"Leave us alone kid. Got some business to attend to here."

"I'm just looking for some meds. There's no reason for this or whatever's going on between you two to get physical. Okay? So just put the crowbar down and we can all go on our merry way."

At this point, the looter put down the pharmacist and walked towards Jaune with his friends behind him. "Trying to be a hero kid? Guess it's good that you're looking for meds then, cause you're gonna need them when I'm through with you."

Pyrrha signaled that she was in position behind them, Jaune just needed to give his signal. "Well talking to you is giving me a headache, but other than that, I think I'll be fine."

"Well aren't you a cocky one. I'll take that as a challenge."

"It wasn't, but feel free." Jaune pulled out Crocea Mors and expanded the shieth into a shield. That was all the signal Pyrrha needed to shove the one on the right side of the leader from behind and send him into Jaune, who uppercutted him into the air. They must of not had an aura because he was instantly knocked out.

His friends, meanwhile, were too stunned by Pyrrha's appearance to react in time to Jaune shield bashing the leader into the other looter while Pyrrha kicked them both into unconsciousness. With the looters out of the way, they started looking for the pills again as if nothing happened.

"Well, that was over before it even started. Where'd you get that confidence, Jaune?"

"Confidence? I was just trying to look cool. Did it work?"

"I'd say so. Although, provoking them wasn't the best strategy."

"I thought it was the best. When they're angry they don't think straight and look how it worked out for them."

"Fair point, I suppose. Oh, found them!"

Pyrrha had found the aura pills in the back room next to some Zombrex. Having found the pills, he turned his attention to the pharmacist. "If you come with us, we can take you to the Safe House to ride the outbreak out."

The pharmacist looked confused, but also hopeful. "The Safe House? I thought the door shut for good when the outbreak started."

"It did, but we found another way in and out. So, will you come with us?"

"Of course! I'm Denyce, by the way."

"I'm Jaune Arc, and this is Pyrrha Nikos."

Denyce looked flabbergasted at both of their names. But in the end she just said "so that's how I recognized you."

Pyrrha broke up the conversation. "Well, shall we go now? The Safe House is not far, but we need to deliver the pills sooner rather than later."

"Good point. Let's go. Denyce, take this." He handed her his sword, leaving him with just his shield. "Only use this if it's absolutely necessary, okay?" Denyce nodded. "Alright, let's go!" And with that, the three of them ran from the pharmacy.

Almost immediately, they were being chased by a large group of zombies. Denyce looked terrified, while Jaune and Pyrrha didn't look back and just kept running. After two minutes of nonstop running, they made it to the maintenance area, and were able to close a door behind them to keep the zombies out.

No words needed to be said as they finished the walk to the air ducts. Pyrrha led the way in the ducts, with Denyce and Jaune right behind her. They made it back to the Safe House, where Denyce finally broke down and started crying in front of them. They didn't know what to do in this situation, but luckily Denyce did it for them by pulling them both into a surprisingly strong hug. No intelligible words were said as she kept crying, but they were pretty sure it was a lot of "Thank you"s and "I don't know what I would do without you"s.

Denyce finally let them go, gave Jaune his sword back and walked away, letting Jaune and Pyrrha enter the security room, where Nora immediately ran up to hug both of them **(What's with everyone constantly hugging me?)** and Pyrrha somehow managed to toss Yang the pills while in the Valkyrie's iron grip. She opened everyone's mouth so Ren could slip a pill in. After about 5 minutes of Jaune and Pyrrha saying they were perfectly fine with no injuries, Nora let them go to continue watching over Velvet, who was able to sit up now with no pain.

 **Velvet, what was it I needed with Velvet? Oh right!** "Hey Velvet, think you'd be okay if we put you in a wheelchair?" Velvet perked up a little at that, and nodded. "Good. Ren, go find her a wheelchair." Ren nodded and left the room. "We need you to be watching the monitors for any signs of survivors so we can rescue them. Don't want to let anyone else die if we can help it." Velvet looked... Impressed? **Guess she didn't think of that.**

Ren eventually returned with a wheelchair, and they all helped lower Velvet into it. Then, she did exactly what Jaune hoped she would do: she rolled her way over to the monitors, took out her scroll, and started watching for life.

Three hours later

With Ruby, Weiss, and Blake now conscious, everyone was lounging around in the security room with Jaune looking for any news on the outbreak on the TV. They had just given up hope when they noticed one of the reporters say "Fortune City", and Jaune rewound a bit so they could see the whole report.

"I am now being told that we are going live to Lisa Lavender, who is inside Fortune City."

"Thanks Cyril. It is clear that the outbreak started in the Fortune City Arena, following yesterday's Terror is Reality Tournament." **Is it just me or does she really sound like Pyrrha?** "While it was originally unclear what happened to start the outbreak, we received a tape from an exclusive source that reveals the cause and the perpetrator behind the outbreak."

They watched as a tape played that showed someone setting up a bomb on one of the cages and walking away before the explosion destroyed the cages. **That guy looks a lot like me...**

"Authorities have confirmed that the man in the video is none other than this years Terror is Reality tournament winner, Jaune Arc."

All nine of them, even Ren, screamed "WHAT?!" In perfect unison.

"While it is unknown why he would start the outbreak, it has been confirmed that he is a known member of the notorious White Fang-"

"WHAT?!"-

"So it is possible that he could have been acting on their behalf. They have not claimed responsibility, however, so it is truly unknown what would drive someone with such a bright future ahead of them to do something like this. Back to you-" She was cut off by Blake turning the TV off.


	2. The Confusing Conspiracy

"What the fuck?! Why do they think I did this?!"

"Hey, not in front of my sister!"

"Least of my worries, Yang!"

"Jaune... is it true? Did you do this?"

Jaune's heart, if it was possible, broke completely in half when Ruby said that. It didn't help that both her and Nora were slowly backing away. "Ruby... how could you think I could do this? What have I done to make you think that?! For fucks sake I was calling you when the explosion happened!" Ruby and Nora both looked appalled at themselves before looking at anything that wasn't Jaune.

"Jaune, calm down." Weiss, of all people, was the one trying to bring him back to earth. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that we believe you're innocent, right?" Everyone nodded their head, including Ruby and Nora, and that made Jaune calm down enough that Weiss could continue talking. "Good. But with that said, that video was very incriminating. Whoever it was that did this was clearly trying to get you to take the fall, and it worked. So we just need to figure out who and why."

Jaune couldn't think of a response at first, so he just stood there for a couple minutes in silence forming a plan. After some tense minutes, he finally spoke up. "Okay, I have a plan. We need to figure out who did this, but there are still people out there who will need our help getting back here. So, with Velvet watching the cameras, we're going to form patrols." They all nodded.

"Ruby and Weiss, you two are morning people, right?" They both nodded again. "Perfect. You guys are gonna be out there from 5 A.M. to 1 P.M. Got that?"

"Yes sir, Jaune!"

"Alright. Pyrrha and Nora," they both looked up since the ground wasn't that interesting anymore "you'll pick up at 1 and patrol till 9. Okay with you?"

"Aye aye, fearless leader!" "Nice. Lastly, Blake and Ren, you'll patrol from 9 until 5. Okay?"

Blake nodded, but Ren looked doubtful. "Yes Jaune, but out of curiosity why did you pair me with Blake?"

"Well, Blake was pretty much doomed to night patrol the moment I remembered she can see in the dark." Blake actually smiled. **She must be glad that being a Faunus is an advantage right now.** "And I put you on night patrol as well because of your aura control. I've seen some of the things you do with it, and am I correct that you can put it into your eyes to increase your eyesight?" Ren nodded. "Well there you go. Besides, you two have similar fighting styles. I'm sure you guys will be fine." Ren smiled at how fast his leader was at making this plan.

Everyone else nodded, except for Yang, who just looked confused. "Uh, Jaune? Why are we not in a patrol?" Realization dawned on all of them that Jaune hadn't put himself or Yang on a patrol.

"I was about to explain that. Yang, you and I will be leading the main investigation. Let me explain." Pyrrha had immediately looked ready to object, but she relaxed again. "Yang, you said that you saw Mercury attack you the day you broke his leg, right?" Yang grimaced and slowly nodded. "I saw the look in your eyes when you punched him. You saw something we didn't and that gives you a name to clear as well. And I don't think it would be fair to you guys to make you clear our names for us."

He paused to let that sink in before he continued. "The second reason is that if we were on a patrol, who would come back here? To the people out there, I'm now the mastermind behind the entire outbreak, and Yang's just some psycho who broke an innocent boys leg. For their sake, we shouldn't be on a patrol."

Pyrrha, the one who was going to fight to her last breath to not have Jaune put himself at risk like this, couldn't deny his logic. So she just sighed loudly and said "As much as I don't think that you and Yang make a good pair in the field, your reasoning is sound. I'm all for it." Jaune gave her a look that he hoped said "Thank you" and turned to the others. They all seemed to be contemplating any better options, but when they couldn't find any they nodded.

"Perfect. Now, did anyone catch where that reporter was?"

"From the looks of it, I'd say the Hotel."

"Thanks Velv. That's where Yang and I are headed then. Ruby, Weiss, you two start your patrol. Keep your scrolls on so Velvet can call if she needs to."

They both nodded before Ruby grabbed Weiss's arm and they were gone. Jaune turned to Yang: "Well, let's go."

"Jaune, before you go, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Blake's question caught pretty much everyone off guard, but who was Jaune to deny. "Sure, Blake. Privately?"

Blake nodded, so they both left the room and walked around the corner, out of sight from the others. "Jaune, I have a question."

"Why do they think I'm a member of the White Fang?" She looked surprised that he knew what she wanted, but nodded. Jaune sighed as memories flooded back to him.

"I only have one idea. About three years ago, when the White Fang was just starting to turn militaristic, I went to a meeting. Just one, but it must have been documented. My best friend, a lion Faunus, had been lynched in the park and no one was doing anything about it. I wanted to join, but when Adam gave one of his "death to all humans" speeches I...snuck out the back..."

Jaune trailed off before fumbling for his scroll. Blake, while horrified at the story, both because of the death of the Faunus and the fact that Adam's views of the world turned people away, ended up being confused as to why he didn't really finish the story until he showed her a picture. Blake was even more horrified than before at what she saw.

"Blake, am I correct that that is RT handing Adam Taurus a bomb?"

She grabbed the scroll from his hands, hoping that closer inspection would show someone else, but she could only nod while barely holding back tears at how truly evil Adam had become. "That's him. Why didn't you show me this sooner, Jaune?"

"Slipped my mind in all the chaos. I just don't understand what he thinks he's accomplishing here."

"But if Adam's the one with the bomb, why are the White Fang not claiming responsibility?"

"I hoped you'd have the answer to that. Guess that's just one more thing we need to figure out. Can you tell the others about Adam while Yang and I are gone?"

Blake nodded one more time before letting the first tear fall. Jaune noticed, and on reflex pulled Blake into a hug. She finally let her walls break down and cried into his shoulder while Jaune rubbed her back. He didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything; he just let Blake silently know that she had someone to confide in while she let out everything that had stored up from having to hunt the White Fang, her former allies, and Adam, the man she'd loved for years.

After a minute or two of that, she pulled back, thanked him for that, and left to find the bathroom. He went back to the security room, where everyone gave him weird looks but didn't question what happened. "Alright, Yang. Let's do this." And with that, they both exited the security room and walked back to the air ducts.

"So, lady killer, what was that all about?"

"Blake wanted to know why they thought I was in the White Fang. Speaking of which, there's something you need to know."

The conversation about Adam's presence in the city lasted the entirety of the trip in the air ducts.

* * *

Aside from almost being surrounded once and having to fight more of those damn looters **(What's up with this secret looter society? Seriously, they're all wearing the exact same thing and have the same voice)** their trip to the hotel was uneventful. The only unexpected thing was when they arrived at the hotel... And it was empty.

It wasn't just empty; it was untouched. The furniture was nice and made, the walls weren't stained with blood, it was like the outbreak just never got there. Jaune walked behind the front desk, but before he could look for anything he heard Yang's voice.

"Yo Vomit Boy! Check this out!"

Yang was standing in the middle of the hotel holding something, so Jaune walked over and looked at it. She was holding a name tag that had blood on it, with the name 'Lisa Lavender'.

"So much for a lead. Got any ideas on what-" he got cut off by a gunshot and the sound of a body falling behind them.

"You kids need to pay attention out here. Could get yourselves hurt." Lisa Lavender stood in front of both of them, holding a smoking gun in the direction of where the zombie behind them stood. "Lisa Lavender, Channel 6 Action News. And you are Jaune Arc, the mastermind behind the outbreak."

Jaune just gulped and nodded, but instead of shooting at them like he thought she would, she just walked up to the two of them and smiled. "Let me guess, you've been framed and are trying to prove your innocence?" He nodded again. "Well, you're in luck. I've been looking for a good story, and this one takes the cake. A teenage huntsman-in-training framed for a zombie outbreak? I can already see the promotion."

Yang and Jaune were both pissed that she was only thinking of a story even in a time like this, but they both realized that she was their best bet for, well, anything. "Look, you said that you had an 'exclusive source' give you that video. Who is this source?"

Lisa laughed at that. She. Fucking. Laughed. "I can't just say who my source is. Though, if you want to meet them, the barbecue place at midnight tomorrow is when we meet next. I can, however, take you to a security place they told me about. It's in the arena, though, so that will be tough." She walked closer to Jaune and grabbed his arm. "Guess it's a good thing that I've got a big strong knight to protect me, huh?"

Even Jaune was smart enough to realize the obvious flirting, and he gave Yang a 'calm down' look when he could feel the room get a little hotter. He shoved Lisa away. "Flattery will get you nowhere. Let's just get to this security room, okay?" Lisa looked disappointed, but nodded. "Alright. Lead the way then." With that, she turned around and started walking.

Yang just stared at her and finally let her anger activate her semblance before Jaune pat her on the shoulder to calm her down. "Don't worry. I already hate her too. But we need her right now. So let's just get this over with and we'll never have to talk to her again. Okay?" Yang's hair extinguished, but her eyes were still red. Jaune took that as a yes. "Well let's go then."

The unfinished plaza was surprisingly empty, explaining why there was no one in the hotel. They were able to keep a walking pace to the other end of the plaza, where there was a gate blocking the path. "Better get used to that view, Jaune."

"Very funny, Lisa. Alright, we've got a couple options. I could slice it open, Yang can punch through it-"

"or I can open it with the open code?"

"Yes. That works just as well."

Lisa went over to the control box next to the gate and entered the code to open the gate and went under it as soon as it was high enough. Yang followed, but Jaune just stood there staring at both of them. She was confused so she asked "why are you just standing there? You coming or not?"

Jaune said something that Yang didn't expect from someone as dorky as him. "What? Just doing what she said and checking out the view." **Where did that come from?**

That actually got Yang to blush. Jaune, of course, didn't notice as they entered the arena and saw the zombies, just as packed together as they were the first time they were there. It stunned them both into silence again, but not as long this time as Lisa was still running right into the crowd. So, both internally sighing, they sprinted after her until they were all at the other side of the arena in the maintenance area.

"Alright, the security room should be at the end of this hallway."

They ran to the end of the hallway, but when Jaune tried to open the door it was locked. He gestured to Yang, who took the hint and punched the door off the hinges.

One swift movement from what appeared to be an umbrella and Lisa Lavender was dead from decapitation.

The perpetrator was gone before Jaune and Yang could even react. Naturally, they were both horrified at the now headless body now laying at their feet and just stood there frozen in their spots until Jaune's stomach voiced it's objections and he ran to a trash can to puke. Surprisingly enough, Yang followed suit, and what followed was what could only be described as a "vomit session."

After a few minutes of puking up everything they'd eaten since the outbreak started, they both managed to calm down enough to back away from the trash can and clean out their mouths at a nearby water fountain. "When I said that we'd never have to talk to her again, that's not what I meant."

"Neo" was Yang's only response.

"Neo? Who's that?"

"The name of the girl that killed Lisa. I'd recognize that damn umbrella anywhere."

"Why? You two know each other?"

"More or less. She's the one that led the attack on Vale. You know, the breach? She was the commander of that entire operation. How she does it without talking I don't understand, but it's her. We fought in the train, and she kicked my ass, so that's how I know her."

"Wait, you two fought and you lost?" She nodded. "Jeez, we need to avoid her if we can. Unless she's a part of all this, which if what you're saying about the breach is true than I wouldn't be surprised to find out."

With that out of the way, they walked back to the security room, stepping over Lisa's body on the way in, and what Jaune saw dashed his hopes completely.

The room was completely trashed. Burned, smashed, ripped, everything in the room had something happen to it. But there was something else that got him interested enough to start recording on his scroll. "Yang, look at this." Yang walked over to Jaune, who was recording a dead body slumped back in a chair with a single bullet in his head. "Zombies and Neo don't use guns, do they?"

The realization hit her that someone they don't know about was responsible for the cover up, and she nodded. "And according to Blake, Adam prefers his sword over his gun." Before they could say anything else, Jaune's scroll rang and he picked it up. "What's happening?"

"Jaune", he could hear Weiss's voice on the other side. "You need to come back here right now."

"Why?"

"Qrow. He saw the report and is threatening to kick your team out. If you don't come back here he'll do it."

"On my way."

Yang wasn't even able to question what happened before Jaune sprinted out of the room and made her follow him.

* * *

Pyrrha was waiting for her patrol to start when Qrow burst into the security room and held her at scythe point. Everyone else, except for Weiss who immediately left the room with her scroll, pointed their own weapons at Qrow, with Velvet using a copied Stormflower, at which point he put his scythe down and stared directly into Pyrrha's eyes. "Get out. Right now. You too" he said, pointing to Nora and Ren.

"What? Why?!" She was minding her own business, and now her and her team are being kicked out?

"I saw the news. How stupid do you think I am if you thought that I wouldn't figure out that you're working with him?"

"Jaune? He didn't do anything! It's a setup! He's out there trying to clear his name!"

"Sure, or he's out there killing everyone he finds. Did you ever think about that?"

"He's with someone else! They'd report back if anything happened!"

"And if that someone else is dead? What happens then?"

"They're in the arena! I'm looking at them right now!"

"Stay out of this, bunny!"

"Everyone stop shouting!" Ren, to everyone's surprise, had dropped the stoic demeanor and looked genuinely angry, holding both of them at gunpoint. Qrow and Pyrrha both backed up from him. "Now, explain to us why you want us out?"

"I thought it was pretty clear. Or are you just too stupid to see the obvious." Nora actually turned Magnhild into a grenade launcher with that, until Blake held her back.

"Needlessly antagonizing us does nothing but hurt your own apparent intelligence. Now, explain why you want us out?"

"Let me guess, because of me?"

Jaune was standing just outside the security room with his sword drawn. Yang was right behind him with her semblance activated and gauntlets ready to fire. When Qrow saw them, he pointed his scythe at both of them. "You!"

"Qrow, I'm being set up."

"I saw it on the TV with my own eyes! Explain how that little trick works."

Jaune sheathed his sword in an attempt to be peaceful. "There's something bigger happening here, Qrow. Aside from the evidence of a cover up in the arena, Neo, the assassin who's been working with the White Fang, is here in the city. Why, I don't know, but she's here. And that's not even mentioning the fact that I have a video of RT handing Adam Taurus a bomb thirty seconds before the explosion!" As he said that last part, he pulled out his scroll and played the video. Qrow looked stunned, but didn't say anything.

"All I'm asking for is a chance here, Qrow. Give me until the military shows up. If I don't clear my name by then, I'll turn myself in. And either way you are for damn sure not kicking my teammates out. Even if the world thinks I did this, they aren't involved and shouldn't be treated like they are. So what do you think?"

Qrow thought it over for about two tense minutes, until he finally sighed, sheathed his scythe, and said "Fine. But I'm gonna enforce my side. If you can't prove your innocence, I'm not gonna stop the military from taking you in. You're on your own kid." That was good enough for Jaune, so he stepped forward and held out his hand. Qrow shook it and left the room, and everyone let out the breath they didn't realize they were holding.

Yang broke the silence. "That was way too close to comfort. What's gotten into him recently? He still got the job done, but he used to be more laid back than me."

"And that's really saying something!"

"Nora, what have I told you about saying things that might be offensive?"

Nora actually looked down at the ground like a child caught with a hand in the cookie jar. "If it could offend someone, don't say it. But how am I supposed to know what's offensive?"

Ren smiled. "I can't do everything for you Nora. That's for you to figure out."

"Awwwww, but it's so hard, Renny! Why does it have to be so hard?"

"I don't know Nora. I wish I did."

Jaune was barely keeping in his laughter at the way his teammates behaved, and it looked like everyone else was in the same situation. Even Blake let out a small chuckle.

Before he could say anything, he felt a tug on his sleeve. Looking down, he saw Ruby looking up at him, tears welling up in her eyes. He didn't get to ask why she was crying before she yanked him out of the room.

Yang saw all of that, but decided not to follow. **If there's something she doesn't want me to hear, I won't hear it.**

Ruby dragged Jaune across the hall into the bathroom, shoving him inside before locking the door behind her. Immediately after, she launched herself at him, hugging him with all her might. Completely used to how Ruby hugged people, he immediately hugged back. The only thing that threw him for a loop was the sound of her crying.

Since he didn't understand why she was crying in the first place, all he could do was whisper sweet nothings into her ear and hope they were relevant. Even then, it was still about five minutes of her soaking his hoodie in tears before she let go.

She saw the curious look in his eyes and knew what he wanted. "I need you to promise me something."

He was surprised, but tried not to let it show. He nodded.

"I need you to promise me you won't think I'm a monster."

That's when his surprise was too much to hold in, and it showed. He got on one knee to get more on her level and grabbed her hands. "Ruby, I would never think you were a monster."

She clearly didn't believe him. "B-but I..." she trailed off, clearly deciding whether or not she should tell him. "I killed someone, Jaune."

Jaune was smart enough to realize there was more to the story. "Ruby, start from the beginning, okay? If you ever get uncomfortable you can stop."

She nodded, and took a big deep breath before she started the story. "W-we were patrolling a-and we saw this guy. His name was T-ted. He had a pet tiger a-and he was feeding it with people! H-he wanted to feed us to it too, and h-he attacked us. I swear I didn't know he didn't have aura! I just reacted on instinct!" She started crying again.

As vague as it was, he didn't need to hear anymore. He hugged her again. "Ruby, who attacked first? You or him?"

He could barely hear her say "He did."

"Would he have killed you if you didn't fight back?"

"Yes."

He started rubbing the back of her head. "Ruby, the fact is as hunters we might have to kill people at some point. It's part of the job. That doesn't make it good, and the fact that you're sad is a good thing. But you have to be ready to do it again. Not every situation can be fixed peacefully."

He hoped his words worked, but couldn't really tell since she was still crying. However, when she finally pulled away, she had a genuine smile on her face. She didn't have any other words to say, only hugging him one more time for a couple seconds before walking out of the room. Following her, he saw her and Weiss walk down the hallway, with him and Weiss sharing an understanding look between them.

Entering the security room, he saw everyone give him a look, clearly hoping he'd tell them what happened, but he shook his head.

Unfortunately, as much as he just wanted to sit and talk, he needed to rest in case a lead came up, even if he wasn't also deathly tired from being awake for so long, and it looked like Yang had the same realization.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I've just had a day. So, Velvet, if you see anything, come wake Yang and me up." Velvet nodded, and the blondes looked at each other and left the room.

"Alright, Vomit Boy. Let's find us a room."

Jaune checked to make sure the others were out of earshot before continuing. "Can you please call me something else? It's not like I'm gonna call you Vomit Girl after what happened in the arena."

"Hey, that was different and you know it. I threw up after I witnessed a decapitation. You threw up because we were in an airship. On me, no less."

"Look, I said I was sorry. Is that enough?"

"It's fine, I guess. At least you didn't get it in my hair. Actually, you know what? Sure. I'll call you something other than Vomit Boy..."

Jaune got so excited...

"Lady killer."

...and then sighed. "Guess I should've seen that coming, huh?"

"Probably. Hey, think anyone's sleeping in here?"


	3. Sadness and Semblances

**A/N: So, a guest user rose a pretty good point. How can zombies infect aura users if their aura fights it? I'm not sure if this is canon, but I don't believe that aura fights off regular illnesses. By the time that aura recognizes the zombie virus as something irregular, the virus will be too strong to be destroyed. Aura can't destroy the virus, merely prolonging the inevitable. Meanwhile, the virus is slowly consuming the person's aura. Hence, the Dead Rising drug Zombrex. It's the way I justify the 24 hour infection time. Also, reviews are appreciated, and I'm warning you now, I suck at writing fight scenes.**

* * *

 **Who would've thought that investigating a conspiracy as big as this would be so boring?** It had been a few hours since he and Yang had gone to rest, and now, with Pyrrha and Nora on patrol, things had been surprisingly boring. Everyone was doing whatever they could to entertain themselves, with Ruby and Weiss working on their weapons, Yang bouncing a tennis ball at the wall, Ren meditating in the corner, and Blake reading her book. The only people doing productive things were Jaune, who was looking for news on the outbreak, and Velvet, who was still diligently watching the cameras. It seemed like a blessing from God himself when Velvet called Jaune and Yang over and said she had something. At least, until they saw what it was.

"Blake, you're in on this too."

"Me? Why?"

"We found Adam. He has a hostage."

Blake was by their side watching the camera immediately. With her there, Velvet rewound the footage and they watched as Adam dragged a girl who appeared to be a dog Faunus into a bathroom. She was kicking and screaming, and Adam went as far as to kick her at one point to get her to stop. "Velvet, where is this?"

"The bathroom at the amusement park. The one in the back of the park."

With that, Jaune, Yang, and Blake were gone and through the air vents as fast as they could possibly go.

"Blake, we need a crash course on how to fight Adam. Now."

"He mostly relies on his sword, but he also has a rifle that will damage your aura severely if he hits you, so close range is the better option here. He tends to launch his sword from the gun to start fights, so charging is not an effective start. Other than that, his semblance is extremely powerful: he channels all of the power from attacks he received into his blade and releases it in one big strike. He usually waits as long as he can to use it, so more often then not it's deadly, even with aura. Charging at him if he's taken hits will just allow him to kill you, so wait for him to attack first."

"Good to know. Yang, stay back unless it's absolutely necessary. Hand to hand won't really work here. Blake, looks like you're taking the lead in this fight."

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

"What happened between you two? Seriously, you really look like you want to kill him. I mean, I'm sure you know him because of the Fang, but still."

"I'm sure he'll say it Yang. It disgusts me even thinking about it."

"As much as it interests me too, we're almost there and we shouldn't broadcast ourselves any earlier than necessary."

They were standing in front of the bathroom where Adam was, and Jaune peeked inside. He had to duck back immediately because it almost made him gag.

Adam had made that bathroom his home, and it showed. Everything made of glass was broken, blood was smeared all over the walls, there were dead bodies inside; it looked like the end of the world had started in that room. Adam had been in the center of it all, with the hostage in front of him, like it didn't even bother him. **Hell, he's probably the one that caused all the destruction.** One thing he did notice that helped, however, was a vent inside. Noticing that there was one outside as well, he turned to the other two.

"Guys, I have a plan, but you're probably not gonna like it."

* * *

Jaune and Yang, knowing the plan, entered the bathroom after Blake signaled that she was in position. Adam hadn't moved an inch, and it looked like he was doing some sort of chant. "The movement is growing. Soon, we'll all be part of the change." **Jesus, this is a ritual sacrifice!** Before Jaune could say anything, he accidentally stepped on a piece of glass, and the crack got Adam's attention.

"You... You're the one I had to impersonate."

Jaune acted clueless for the sake of the plan. "Impersonate? When?"

Adam didn't answer the question, lost in his insane ramblings. "At first, I didn't understand the point. But eventually, I saw how much this means for Faunus equality. It may be desperate, but if everyone has to die to be equal, then I'll be the one to make it happen."

"Don't really see how that makes sense, bullhead."

Adam was so gone he didn't even catch Yang's insult. "Don't you see? No one will be different. There'll be nothing that separates the humans and the Faunus anymore. Every monster is equal. The day that I've been working for for years is finally here."

"You really have lost your mind Adam."

Blake had dropped out of the vent behind Adam halfway through his small speech and tossed Jaune's scroll back to him, having finished recording. Adam turned around and opened his arms to her. "Blake, my love." **MY LOVE?!** "You have finally returned to me."

"Stop calling me that. That's not who I am anymore."

"Oh no, my love. That's all you'll ever be. And if you won't return to me, then you will suffer for you're betrayal."

"Between returning and being punished, I'll take the punishment any day."

"I'm sorry, my love. But I won't hold back."

With that, he drew his sword and beheaded the hostage with one swift motion. Blake drew her weapon and they were clashing swords before Jaune and Yang could even react. But what happened next changed Jaune's life forever: Yang punched him across the face.

Yang had noticed that a zombie had exited one of the stalls to Jaune's left and had gone to punch it, but when Jaune had noticed it and stepped forward he took the blow instead. But neither of them expected it when Jaune, instead of practically passing out in pain, flashed white and made YANG grab her now probably broken hand.

He killed the zombie before realizing that he hadn't felt any pain from a blow that should have knocked him out. Checking his scroll, he saw that his aura hadn't taken any damage at all, but Yang's had almost completely drained.

 **Is that... My semblance? Attack reflection?** When he noticed that Blake was losing her fight, he had one final plan: **Only one way to find out, I guess.**

"Yang," he said, getting her attention. "I'm gonna do something that's gonna seem really stupid, but I need you to trust me. If it works the way I hope it will, it'll give you an opening to finish him off." Yang, though completely and utterly confused (and still nursing her hand), nodded her head just as Adam kicked Blake into her. With that, Jaune yelled and charged.

He saw Adam prep his sword for his power swing.

Blake saw him charge and was about to run in herself when Yang held her back and gave her a look of 'he has a plan'. She still got nervous when Adam got in his power stance, but she had faith in Jaune.

Jaune got close enough, and Adam swung.

Adam struck, and Blake and Yang almost screamed until they saw Adam get thrown back. Jaune collapsed, winded but otherwise alright. Adam, meanwhile, had to locate his sword that had gone flying after the swing.

Yang saw how stunned Adam was from the fact that his blade was missing and realized her opening. She used Ember Celica to dash forward and deliver one strong punch to the chest and another to his head to knock Adam into a nearby stall, aura destroyed.

Yang pulled Jaune up, but before either of them could say anything, they heard a crunch and a bloodcurdling scream from where Adam was. They could do nothing but watch as Adam walked out of the stall holding his now bleeding neck with a zombie behind him, said "it wasn't supposed to go down like that", and picked up a piece of glass from the broken mirror.

Adam Taurus was dead before he even hit the ground after slitting his throat.

Jaune and Yang just stood there, looked at each other, and walked away. After seeing a full decapitation twice already, they were past having to puke after seeing someone die. They stood outside and watched as Blake walked to Adam's body, spit on it, called him a disgrace to the Faunus race, and left. With that, they started to walk back to the security room until Ren appeared at the entrance to the amusement park, grabbed Blake, and they left for their patrol.

* * *

Velvet, Ruby, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Nora had watched that all happen from the cameras.

Ren had left before the fight had started to intercept Blake for their patrol, but the others had been watching with interest at how the fight went. Pyrrha and Ruby especially got excited when Yang punched Jaune and he didn't even flinch. Their emotions went on a roller coaster after that, from excitement to horror as Adam killed himself.

They just stared, jaws dropped, as they watched the trio leave Adam to rot in the bathroom. No words needed to be said, so none were, before they realized that Jaune and Yang had come back while they were distracted and were trying to get their attention.

The next thing the blondes knew was they were being tackle hugged by Nora and Ruby respectively, with Ruby crying into Yang's chest and Nora spinning Jaune in the air congratulating him on his win.

After 10 minutes of reassuring Ruby they were fine and Jaune having to do his best to not puke again, the hugs were finished and Jaune could breathe again. He was incredibly surprised when he looked at Pyrrha and, instead of congratulating him or encouraging him or anything positive, she walked up to him and slapped him across the face.

"Ow! What was that for?"

She looked like she was about to cry. "Why didn't you tell me where you were going?! I was scared to death and it didn't help that you seemed suicidal in that bathroom! Besides, you've never worked with Blake before, so why would you take her?!"

"Whoa, calm down, P-money!"

"Stay out of this Yang!"

Jaune could take being yelled at, but Pyrrha snapping at Yang like that crossed the line. "Pyrrha, the only reason why I even brought Blake is because we needed help from someone who knew him! I was too busy paying attention to the information that would save my life to contact you while you were patrolling so you could save more lives! Besides, Blake was in it for a personal reason and that made my call make even more sense to me. So can you stop freaking out and let me make my own decisions like a leader is supposed to?!"

Silence. No one had any idea what to say to that, even Pyrrha. So she did the only thing she could think of: she bowed her head, said sorry, and walked out to the roof. **Why do I always do that?** Realizing what he'd just done, he sighed and followed her.

The awkwardness was so strong you could touch it, until Nora said "I guess it's a good thing I didn't bet on Arkos then." They had a laugh, albeit a forced one, and went back to what they were doing before.

* * *

Pyrrha was leaning on the railing surrounding the rooftop watching the burning city when the elevator dinged and Jaune stepped out. "Pyrrha-"

"Don't. I'm the one that needs to apologize."

Jaune was stunned, but stayed silent to let her continue.

"I've been too overprotective for your own good. But what you need to understand is that it's just out of concern for you. You're my partner, the brother I never had, even my first crush. I can't stand the thought of something bad happening to you and it doesn't help you seem to be charging headfirst into every problem we're facing." Pyrrha was openly crying now, so Jaune pulled her into a hug. **I've been giving a lot of hugs recently.**

"I understand that Pyrrha. Trust me, I do. But I'll never be able to grow as a fighter or a leader if I always have you there keeping me out of trouble. I need you, I'm not saying that I don't, but what I am saying is that if I'm ever in a situation where you're not there I need to be able to hold my own. You just need to let me off the leash a little bit." She nodded, still crying into his shoulder. "I'll be fine Pyrrha. You trained me after all."

With that, she pulled back and, with tears still running down her face, kissed him on the cheek. Jaune's heart skipped a beat. Cupping his cheek, she said "You may not be my crush anymore, Jaune, but I've still always wanted to do that." And with what she wanted out of the way, she walked back to the elevator. She waited to see if Jaune was coming too, but when he didn't move she went back downstairs.

Jaune just stood there, not paying attention to the burning city or the sound of Stormflower shooting in the distance. He knew that Pyrrha didn't like him that way, and he didn't like her like that, but that didn't change the fact that a girl, Pyrrha Nikos no less, had just kissed him. He was on cloud nine until he remembered **oh yeah. I've been framed for a zombie outbreak** and walked back to the elevator.

If he had been in the security room, he would've seen another blonde watching the cameras with a surprising amount of interest.

Yang had watched the entire interaction between the Jaune and Pyrrha with an interest that even she couldn't understand. **Why do I care so much? It's Jaune and Pyrrha, not me. So why am I still here?** She would've continued to just stand there confused if Ruby had not tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to everyone else.

Pyrrha, Nora, and Weiss were all sitting in a circle, looking at her with confusion in their eyes, especially Pyrrha. Ruby led her over to the group, sat her down, and explained: "We're waiting to talk about Jaune's semblance."

Yang nodded, and they waited until Jaune walked in. "Am I interrupting something? Like a girl talk?" Ruby, in response, used her semblance to grab Jaune and sit him down before he could move a muscle. After his world stopped spinning, he said "I guess not. What do you want to talk about?"

Weiss obliged. "It would appear that you have unlocked your semblance, Jaune."

He nodded and replied "Attack reflection".

She continued. "We wanted to know your thoughts. It is an extremely rare semblance after all."

He thought about his wording very carefully before he replied. "Well, I mean, it makes perfect sense that I would have that as a semblance." Noticing the confused looks on everyone's face ( **Still the wrong choice of words** ), he continued.

"Semblance is connected to aura, right?" They nodded. "And aura is directly connected to who we are as people right? They're our souls." They nodded again. "Then most semblances are connected to who we are. Pyrrha, your entire shtick as a tournament fighter is that you don't take a hit. So, you have a semblance that lets you do that."

Pyrrha had never thought about that before, but as much as she hated it it made perfect sense now that she did. She nodded.

"Get to the point, lady killer. What makes you able to drain my entire aura by me punching you?"

"Well, Pyrrha and Nora can tell you that I've taken a lot of hits for the team before. Right?" They both nodded, although everyone noticed that it was a sad nod. Everyone except for Jaune of course. "With taking hits for the team, combined with my general inexperience, my semblance allows me to throw all those hits back instead of letting myself get killed."

No one had expected Jaune to suddenly throw all this logic about semblances, of all things, in their face, so they weren't able to respond for a while. Until Weiss responded "now if only you were that smart in history, you wouldn't have to copy my notes all the time."

They all shared a laugh, and Jaune spoke again. "So, what do you guys think my semblance entails?"

"I would assume that it only entails what we know so far: you take the strength of attacks that hit you and reflect it back towards the attacker while it's activated."

"You're probably right, Pyr, but when we get back to Beacon can we do some training to see if there's anything else?"

She nodded, and Jaune got a grim look on his face. "So, here's what we know about the outbreak so far." They all started paying more attention. "Someone paid RT to give Adam the bomb which he then used to start the outbreak."

"Wait, when did we find that out that RT was paid?" Yang asked.

"We didn't. I did. When RT handed the bomb over, Adam asked why he cared about Faunus equality, and he said 'if it gets me money I care about it.' He also said 'you have someone to meet' right before the bomb traded hands. Aside from that, we know that Neo is here for whatever reason, so we've got two big questions right now: who paid RT and why is Neo here. I wouldn't be surprised to find out they're connected. Our best bet would be to try to track their movements, so Velvet!" She looked from the cameras. "If you see RT or Neo anywhere on the cameras, let us know. That'll be our lead." She nodded and turned back to the cameras.

He let out a sigh before putting his head in his hands. "I just wish I could understand what I did to deserve this." They all got somber looks at that, with Ruby patting his back. The silence was deafening. "But for now, Yang and I are gonna rest. So, good luck on your patrols, guys."

They all nodded, and he and Yang left the room for their own.

"So, lady killer, what's the deal between you and P-money? It looked pretty intense."

He sighed. "Well, things were pretty awkward for a while after the dance. Our friendship got pretty rocky when I told her that I didn't like her like that, but eventually we actually got closer than ever. She's like another sister." Jaune had a sad look on his face, but Yang didn't notice. "Since we got closer, though, she's been overprotective. It was pretty constricting, but tonight I got my point across. I don't like the way I did it, but she's moving past it, so I will too."

"So, you two aren't dating?"

"No. We're not."

Yang felt... relieved? **Wait, why do I feel relieved?**

"Why do you ask?"

Jaune's voice broke Yang out of her trance. "Uhhhhh..." She couldn't come up with a lie. "I may or may not have been watching you guys on the cameras."

He froze in his place.

"So... You saw..."

"Yeah, I saw. But I'm not gonna tell anyone. No one else was looking at the rooftop camera."

"Still, Yang! Why would you watch us? That was private!" She didn't have anything to say to that, but before she could think of anything Jaune continued, much calmer than before. "I'm sorry for yelling Yang. I've just had a really messed up day. So we just need to sleep and hope that Velvet finds something."

She nodded before they entered their room. As they were settling down, she went back to her usual teasing self. "So, lady killer, excited to sleep with me again?"

He groaned loudly. "Can you stop saying it like that? I don't want everyone else to get the wrong impression. Who designs a safe house this big with only one bed in a room anyway?"

"Oh come on. Most men your age would kill to be in your position!"

"Well, the difference is they look at you and only see boobs and hair. I look at you and see one of my best friends. One of the few people that didn't see me as a worthless oaf not capable of anything." He sighed again as they sat on the bed. **This won't end well, but I might as well tell her.** "Yang, how many friends do you think I had before Beacon?"

She thought about it and said "7-8?"

He actually laughed at that. "That's about half of the amount of people that pretended to be my friend to have a shot with my sisters. I had one person that I would truly consider a friend."

Her eyes widened at how low the number was.

"Her name was Janet. We were inseparable, kinda like Nora and Ren. We'd known each other for 7 years by the time we reached high school. We were both outcasts: me because I'm a geek and her because she was a Faunus. She was the only person who thought my dream of being a huntsman wasn't completely ridiculous. She even decided that she wanted to be a huntress too." He had to pause to get ready to finish the story.

"Three years ago, I asked her out on a date, and she said yes. I was excited beyond belief. I mean, it didn't hurt that I considered her hot, but she was the nicest person I ever met. And then, that night..." He was starting to cry, but Yang didn't do anything yet. "I was walking through the park, and I saw a body hanging from a tree." Yang already knew where this story was heading. "I decided to investigate, and it was her..." And he lost control.

He put his face in his hands and started crying. He hadn't cried over this before: even during her funeral he had been too angry at the people who killed her to cry. So he let up all the emotion that had stored during the next three years of being tormented and told that the world was better without her. He was only somewhat surprised when Yang hugged him and let him cry into her shoulder while rubbing his back ( **This is like the third or fourth cry hug I've been in today alone** ) and didn't even try to fight it. He just let it all out.

Yang, meanwhile, was shocked. While she was confused as to how the conversation suddenly took such a dark turn, those thoughts took a backseat compared to the now crying boy in front of her. It was then that she realized how lucky she was. She may not have had her mother, but she still had other people she could've leaned on at the time. Friends. By Jaune's own account, he had no one else to talk to, as he'd said in the past that his family wasn't around that much due to hunter work.

Hell, based on this reaction, she was probably the first person he ever talked to about this.

After a couple minutes of crying, he was able to form coherent sentences.

"That's why I value you guys so much. You guys actually believed in me. It was like having her back again times seven. That's also why I'm nervous over simple things like sleeping in the same bed as you. Not only have I never done anything like this before, but I also don't want to do anything that might make me lose you guys. I can't lose anyone else. Not again." He cried again, but not as long this time.

Eventually, he moved to pull back, but Yang kept him there. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. You deserve better than to have that happen to you." She sighed before continuing. "I can't say that I know how that feels, but if you ever need someone to talk to about anything like that, I'm here for you, okay? Not just me, too: my team and yours. We're not going anywhere if we can help it Jaune. Remember that."

There were a few things Jaune had expected her to do. Offer him this much support wasn't one of them. He tightened the hug. "Thanks Yang. You're a good friend, you know that?"

Yang took the opportunity to lighten the mood. "Of course I know that. It's me."

It made Jaune laugh as he let go so she called it mission accomplished. "Right. I was thinking you'd be humble. Should've remembered who I was talking to."

That made them both laugh. When they stopped, they looked each other in the eyes, and they both had to look away to hide their blush. "So, we gonna sleep or what?"

"Sleep sounds fantastic, so yes. Can you do me a favor though?"

"Sure, Jaune. What is it?"

"Can you breathe a little quieter? Hearing any sort of noise that reminds me that I'm sleeping next to you makes me have a heart attack."

"Well, you can expect very loud snoring then."

"Shouldn't have asked..."


	4. Derailing the Opposition

**Velvet's job is actually pretty exciting**. It was about 8 AM and Velvet had decided to take a small rest from watching the cameras, so Jaune had volunteered. He'd already called Ruby and Weiss 6 times to tell them where to find survivors, and now he was watching as the two fought a chef in his restaurant. **I wish these cameras had sound. I wonder what led up to that.**

His thought process was cut off when he noticed movement in the camera watching the underground. **The underground was locked off...** He watched as heavily armored men appeared in view moving equipment into a train. He would've called Ruby and Weiss if one of them hadn't turned around to show the logo on his back. **That's the White Fang!** He turned around and saw that Pyrrha and Yang were there.

"Hey Pyrrha?"

"Yes Jaune?"

"I've got a lead I want to investigate. Can you take over here?"

"Yes, but Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful, okay? I'm not going to stop you, but that doesn't mean I won't worry."

"I'll be fine Pyrrha. I'll have Yang covering my back. If you want to watch, it's this camera, the underground under the Palisades mall."

She accepted that response and moved to take Jaune's place at the cameras. Jaune and Yang, with no need for words, grabbed some aura pills, ran through the air ducts and were at the Palisades as fast as they could possibly go.

"Okay, I have the shield, so I'll take point in case something goes wrong. I want to record first, so we have as much evidence as possible against them, so stay out of sight as long as possible." She nodded and they opened the maintenance door that used to be locked.

After going down a flight of stairs, they were in a warehouse type place. Yang, as instructed, stayed back as Jaune moved forward, staying as hidden as he could with his scroll in hand. He watched as several White Fang grunts moved boxes around a train, but didn't catch anything incriminating until someone stepped out of the train.

It was RT.

"Alright, listen up you mutts! We're on a schedule here and you're slowing us down! So give me my money's worth and get it over with!" With Jaune still recording, he started to walk back to the train, until he stopped. Jaune just watched as he turned around, aimed his cane, and fired straight at the shelf he was behind. Jaune stopped recording and moved to a different hiding spot as fast as he could.

"Well, would you look at that! Little Jauney boy's trying to play hero. Kill him, boys!" With that, he walked onto the train, and before Jaune could do anything it was moving away.

With five grunts converging on his hiding spot, he readied his shield and leaped into the center of the room, shield in front of him. The grunts all fired their weapons at him, but they either missed or hit the shield. When they stopped shooting to reload, he ducked...

And Yang used his back as support to leap over him and sucker punch the grunt in the middle. Before any of them could react, the one to the left was down as well.

The two on Jaune's right were about to fire at Yang, but Jaune was attacking them first. He slashed the one on the left across the face, sending him backwards, and before the other could react Jaune had spun around and shield bashed him from the side. With them down, Jaune looked and saw that Yang had finished her grunts as well.

They were about to run after the train when they heard a motorcycle revving. Jaune, immediately getting an idea, grabbed Yang and pushed her right next to the shelf he was behind earlier and hid behind it, grabbing a nearby 2x4 with both hands.

Yang figured out what was going on and backed up to the back of the warehouse. As soon as the motorcycle came around the corner, she did her part. "Hey you freak! You just gonna sit there or are you gonna come over here so I can kick your ass!" This riled up the guy enough to drive straight at Yang, who backed up slowly. He got closer and closer...

Until Jaune swung around the corner and bashed him off the bike.

The bike, now driverless, skidded to a stop right in front of Yang, who immediately jumped on it and started driving away. As she passed Jaune, he jumped on the back as well and they were off.

"I swear to god if you try to cop a feel!"

"Didn't we already talk about this?"

They followed the underground path until they could clearly see the train. They were catching up quickly. Unfortunately, any chance they had of sneaking up vanished when one of the soldiers saw them and started shooting. Soon enough, another soldier had joined him and started shooting as well, making Yang drive erratically and Jaune try to block whatever shots he could with his shield. After about 5 minutes of dodging for their life, Jaune noticed something that could help right ahead of them.

"Yang! Right side!" She looked to the right side and saw what he wanted: a ramp. She swerved over to the right and hit it at an angle that made the back of the bike swing towards the train. Jaune took advantage and jumped off the bike, managing to land on the train shield down (after a lot of fumbling) and knocking the two shooters off the side.

Yang wasn't as lucky.

She wasn't able to correct herself in the air and ended up not being able to get off the bike. After hitting the wall, she crashed and rolled about five times before coming to a stop a few feet away from the bike. Jaune would've been worried if Yang hadn't immediately gotten up, hair on fire, and started running towards the train. She got left behind quickly, of course, but he at least knew she was okay.

 **If only I if I knew the same for me. I still have to get to the front.** With that dark thought out of the way, he began the fight to the front of the train.

* * *

Team NPR couldn't be more excited about how their leader was doing.

As soon as the fight had broken out, Blake had volunteered to take Pyrrha's place at the cameras so she could watch, and she'd gratefully accepted. Now, having seen Jaune's fighting abilities from out of the field, she was beginning to realize how much Jaune had changed. **I guess he was right: I do need to "let him off the leash" as he said.** She was lost in her internal musings and pride until Nora broke her out. "He still needs you, you know."

"Are you sure your semblance is bio electricity, Nora? It seems that you are just as good at mind reading." Nora laughed, but didn't say anything, waiting for Pyrrha to continue. She sighed. "I know he still needs me, but... I suppose I never realized that there would be a point where he would be able to be on his own."

"Still, you see all these awesome things he's doing? That's your work. He knows it, I know it, everyone knows it. He wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for you. You're always going to be close. I don't think even he will forget you easily."

Pyrrha smiled. "Nora, where did this wisdom come from? It's not like you at all."

"It happens when you're friends with Ren for so long."

Ren just gave a questioning "hmm?" as he was too busy eating popcorn he'd gotten from who knows where to either listen or respond properly.

"You know, if you acted like that more often, Ren would find you irresistible", Pyrrha said in a whisper.

Nora's face became the shade of her hair. Whisper shouting, she responded "That's not the problem and you know it. We're just not together-together and I'm not gonna force him, even if I want to."

Ren cleared his throat and looked at them with glowing ears and a red face, signaling his aura was there and he'd heard everything. Nora's face flushed and she looked away in embarrassment. "As flattered as I am Nora, that's a conversation between us. However, right now, Jaune has almost reached the front of the train."

Pyrrha and Nora were in front of the cameras before Ren could even see they'd moved.

* * *

Two slashes and a kick were more than enough to finish the last grunt and move on to the final train car, where he'd hopefully be able to learn what RT was doing with the White Fang. **Looks like Adam wasn't alone when he decided to go off the deep end. Hopefully there aren't too many to deal with.** He walked through the door in front of him and was greeted with the sight of RT and another White Fang member standing in the train car, clapping.

"Well done, Jauney boy. Maybe you aren't completely harmless after all."

"What the hell are you planning RT!?"

"I'm not planning anything! But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"What does that even mean?"

"My hearing isn't as bad as you think it is, Jauney! I heard you in the warehouse when I was talking to Adam". Jaune froze. **He knew I was there?** "I was hoping that you'd die in the outbreak, but noooooo! You just had to be stubborn, and here we are! You know, everything would be a lot easier if you'd just die already!"

Jaune didn't let what he was saying get to him. "Why did Adam agree to work with you? He despises humans!"

RT laughed at that and clutched his cane a little tighter. "You think I wanted to work with that cow? He was just a means to an end. Him and his pets. But, enough with the talking." And with that, RT lifted his cane and shot at him.

Jaune immediately blocked the bullets using his shield, but before he could do anything else the White Fang member ran up to him and punched the shield. The strength was unexpected: Jaune was sent careening into the back of the car. He quickly stood back up and took in his opponent: RT was already long gone.

 **Ridiculous levels of strength, seems to have a chainsaw... sword... thing, unknown combat ability, but presumably above average. Wait a second... Didn't Weiss mention someone exactly like this?**

He was cut off as the man was charging straight at him: knowing he couldn't break the charge, Jaune sidestepped to the left. He expected the man to simply charge right by, but instead he was grabbed by the side of the head and shoved into the floor of the train car so hard he left a dent. That confirmed his suspicions:

 **Yep, this would be the Lieutenant. Yay...**

* * *

Yang wasn't stupid enough to think that she could keep up with the train on foot. No matter how much she charged her body, she wasn't Ruby, able to hit Mach 10 whenever she felt like it. So it didn't take long before she grabbed the bike. She was also quick to realize how fast the train had been, so she formed a plan.

 **Okay, so the tracks down here are on a loop. Don't know what he really thinks he's accomplishing here. But, if I go the other way, I should reach the train soon enough.**

With a plan in mind, she turned the bike around and started driving. Following the tracks wasn't difficult: the only issue was that with the underground opened, even from just one place, zombies were now filling the tunnels, creating a lot of unnecessary speed bumps.

She tried her best to take it all in stride, but with each zombie she hit she gradually lost more control of the bike. It was clearly having trouble taking the hits that it was, with the way she was having to compensate it's broken suspension.

Ironically enough, her rescue came in the form of the train screaming down the tracks towards her.

There was no hesitation this time around; without having to worry about Jaune behind her, she was keep her course and throw herself off the bike and straight through the window. Of all the things to hit her off her course, she didn't expect it to be a cane.

The strength of the hit her back took brought her to the ground, but she managed to correct herself enough to roll into a crouch. Standing there, of course, was none other than RT, looking more exasperated than anything.

She was about to shoot herself forward, but he held his hand up. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He pressed a button on the console behind him, opening the door behind him.

Revealing none other than Jaune with a sword at his throat. Her heart skipped a beat.

Based on the bruises left on his skin, she could tell his aura had run out. Though, based on the way his captor seemed to favor his right side over his left, he hadn't gone down without a fight.

The only problem was the fact that they were a whole compartment away; if she tried to save him, RT could disconnect the train and disappear.

He seemed to read her mind and laughed. "You have a choice. Save your precious boyfriend, or stop me. Pick wisely." He sounded like a parent lecturing a child. It was infuriating. The only thing even more angering was Jaune's response.

"Yang, go! I'll be fine!"

 **YOU WON'T BE FINE YOU DUMBASS!** She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, only stopping from he look in Jaune's eyes. He knew what he was asking her to do, and simply didn't care.

That made her choice for her.

She snarled at RT and made it look like she was about to attack, but turned around at the last possible second and shot towards Jaune and the Lieutenant instead.

She could hear the sound of RT's laughter as he disconnected the front of the train, disappearing as the train started to slow.

* * *

 **Stupid brat. You had the perfect chance to end it all and you didn't take it. Shame on you.  
**

He simply couldn't understand what she could've been thinking in that moment. He had literally given her the opportunity to at least start a fight with him, and the mistiming would've thrown everything else off. It would've ended everything that was to come. And yet, she'd chosen the boy.

It confused him to no end. The interactions he'd seen during the tournament suggested that they barely talked to each other, yet here she was risking letting him get away to save his pathetic ass.

He was no closer to figuring out her reasoning when he felt his satellite phone ring.

The phones were his idea, one of the few that the crazy woman agreed to. They were so outdated, so primitive, so useless, that they were perfect for this operation. With the CCT down, no one would be able to use their scrolls for long distance communication. But with phones that skipped the CCT altogether and used the satellite directly? Flawless communication.

"Hey hey, Mercury! How's it going?"

"Cut the shit, Roman. How'd it go?"

"Well, it was pretty simple, really. The animals were surprisingly easy to work with. The only thing is, did you know Arc and Xiao Long were a thing?"

"What the hell do you mean a 'thing'?"

"Well, I literally had her choose between fighting me and saving Arc, and lo and behold she saved his ass. I didn't stay long enough to see what became of that."

"Of course you didn't. That would imply you weren't a coward."

RT rolled his eyes. "You don't see my point, do you?"

"No, not really."

"We can use this. All we have to do is target one of them and the other comes running. Tell that to your fire bitch."

* * *

Yang had no idea where things went wrong.

Maybe it had been when Jaune had managed to sneak in an aura pill without the Lieutenant knowing. Maybe it was when she still shoved him aside, thinking him too weak to survive the upcoming fight. Maybe it had been when she'd let her guard down, letting the Lieutenant have an open shot.

But wherever it had went wrong, it had ended with Jaune stabbing the bastard straight through the heart.

She'd expected him to break down. To be guilty for what he'd done, even if there was no other option. To call himself a monster or something like that.

But all he'd done was walk away with empty eyes, like he'd done it before.

* * *

 **A/N: There's the latest chapter. Reviews are much appreciated, and hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Updates

**Hey guys. Just wanted to give an update on my stories. When I first started writing, I didn't really come up with a schedule: I just updated whenever I finished a chapter. Unfortunately, with high school, writers block, and general laziness, I don't write a whole lot. So, I have a plan that will hopefully leave most of you happy. I'm going to only focus on my stories RWBY Knight and A Grimm Tale. I've gotten more positivity from people on those stories than anywhere else, and people are really anxious about them, so I'm gonna write thm before I think about others. I'm sorry if people are disappointed, but that's the plan for now. Thanks for all the support, as well as your time.**


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